Modern automobiles may be provided with a variety of onboard weather condition sensors. These can include, but are not limited to, temperature sensors, rain sensors, barometers, etc. Capable of gathering weather data at a vehicle location, the output from these sensors can be fed back into a vehicle computing system to adjust vehicle components and settings.
Weather conditions can affect a variety of vehicle systems. On a basic level, rain or snow can make driving treacherous. Accordingly, if rain or snow is detected by a sensor, a vehicle can engage traction control, all wheel or four wheel drive automatically in order to provide a safer driving experience. Similarly, detection of rain could cause the trigger of an automatic start to windshield wipers, for example.
Vehicle sensors may be limited in their capabilities, however. Since vehicles are typically in motion, much of the data gathered by the sensors actually correlates to conditions at a previous point of travel. This may also make it difficult to take certain measurements, such as humidity, unless the humidity can be instantaneously measured from the air around a moving vehicle.